What You Don't Know About Normal People's Daisy Edgar-Jones
Before breaking up with her boyfriend and moving back to her parents' North London home, Daisy Edgar-Jones spent COVID-19 quarantine like a normal person — pun intended — might (via Page Six). "My flatmates and I have played a lot of board games," the Golden Globe-nominated 22 year old told The New Yorker. "We find karaoke songs on YouTube and sing them. We've, like, learned a lot of TikTok dances."
Daisy Edgar-Jones is a Beyoncé fan (via Harper's Bazaar). Because who isn't? She'd also love to call Blue Valentine actress Michelle Williams a friend. And, after browsing her Instagram, we're not ashamed to admit that we'd desperately like to be friends with Edgar-Jones. Here's an actress, who despite rocketing to stardom, is still extremely, refreshingly relatable. The actress behind Normal People's Marianne laughs at pictures of graffiti-adorned toilets, poses with giant Toblerone chocolate bars, and knows that 20 days until Christmas equals "480hrs which is only 28,800 mins which is only 1,728,000 seconds."
Edgar-Jones get why Normal People captivated us in 2020. ("I think what Normal People really does celebrate is human connection and intimacy, and that is something we're all hyper-aware of craving," she told The New Yorker.) But she hasn't fully grasped her own fame. ("That's still something I can't actually believe. It's a very odd thing to get your head around," she told The Guardian). This feels like a butterfly-coming-out-of-a-cocoon-moment for the young actress. Not staring at it would be next-to-impossible.
Daisy Edgar-Jones talks romance
Not long ago, Daisy Edgar-Jones auditioned for a Domino's commercial. The "whole role was snogging," she told Harper's Bazaar for a "What You Don't Know About Me" video. She didn't get the part. "I guess it was pretty good practice for Normal People," Edgar Jones reflected. True that. In a separate interview with Harper's Bazaar, Edgar-Jones admits she had to kiss the air for her audition tape for the role of Normal People's Marianne. After she did clinch that role, she and her co-star Paul Mescal worked with an intimacy coordinator to create their too-real for television chemistry.
Offset, the actress's idea of a romantic gesture is far from what you'd expect to pine over in a Hollywood blockbuster, and more what you might see in a low-budget indie movie. For example? Edgar-Jones told Harper's Bazaar that the most romantic thing anybody's ever done for her is stock the fridge of her new apartment with "a load of frozen food from Tesco," including potato waffles and fish sticks. Oh, and her favorite romances? "Obviously, Romeo and Juliet" she told The New Yorker ... and "There's also "The Hunger Games."
Acting, says the Golden Globe nominee has nonetheless prepared her for love. "The nice thing about being an actor is it sets you up for dating life because you're being rejected all the time," she once quipped (via The Sun).
This is how Daisy Edgar-Jones got her start in acting
In part, acting is a family thing. Her dad is the entertainment executive, partially responsible for Big Brother (via The New Yorker and Harper's Bazaar). Daisy Edgar-Jones' mom is a film editor and, as per The New Yorker, her first accent-coach of sorts. Edgar-Jones' knack for accents will certainly come in handy in her upcoming role in Reese Witherspoon's adaptation of Where The Crawdads Sing. The movie's set in the American South (via Tatler).
Of course, Daisy Edgar-Jones has formal training to rely on for any future projects, too. The actress, after all, graduated from the same acting school as Helen Mirren (via Harper's Bazaar). She got into the National Youth Theatre when she was 14, by reciting Shakespeare's Juliet (via The New Yorker). Three years later, and the budding actress landed her first part in the sitcom, Cold Feet. Edgar-Jones hasn't been jobless since. In 2017, she played Jessica Timpson in the drama series, Silent Witness. In 2018, she starred as Cassie in the film, Pond Life. In 2019, she was Emily Gresham in War of the Worlds (via IMDb).
You get the idea. The one thing that Edgar-Jones hasn't played is the villain. "I'd like to explore playing someone really evil," she told Harper's Bazaar, "I think that would be really fun."
A young fashion icon
When she's not preparing for a role, you might catch Daisy Edgar-Jones as the "face and feet" of Jimmy Choo (via Instagram). It's more of a win for the fashion company than for Edgar-Jones, who in 2020 has found herself styled by Vogue, Net-A-Porter, Vanity Fair, and 1883 photographers. At least in photos, the actress comes off as effortlessly nonchalant. Nonetheless, she loves dressing up.
"Really, the clothes that you wear say so much [about] how you feel about yourself, and they ... dictate the way you stand — particularly if you wear heeled boots — you really stand and walk differently and feel stronger," Edgar-Jones reflected Vanity Fair. That doesn't mean you'll catch her in stilettos. Instead, during her first Jimmy Choo photoshoot, she set her eyes on white sneakers. "You can't ... go wrong with a pair of white trainers that go with everything and that are really comfy," she explained.
For Daisy Edgar-Jones "comfy" is key. The actress might be into "bold necklines, interesting sleeves and big patterns," but she is not going to try to impress the fashion industry à la Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada (via Harper's Bazaar). You're unlikely to find her wearing something that makes her sweat, itch, blister, or otherwise squirm.
An actress with a cause
Daisy Edgar-Jones knows she's famous: she described her Normal People role as a "life-changer" (via The Guardian). But, instead of using her newly found notoriety to, say, get into VIP clubs (because that's what famous, people do, right?) Daisy Edgar-Jones is promoting the work of Compass Collect, an NGO supporting refugees and asylum seekers (via Instagram).
The actress met the founders of Compass Collective, Leah and Mhairi Gayer, during her time at the National Youth Theatre. After volunteering for the organization in 2018, she knew it was an initiative she wanted to keep supporting. "I wanted to help in anyway I could," she explained to Harper's Bazaar, "If you have a platform, you should use it to amplify other voices that need to be heard. I'm really keen to bring activism into life, further than social media. We need to live in a world that's welcoming and inclusive."
For Edgar-Jones, part of that means educating herself. Want to join her book club? Read Girl, Women, Other by Bernadine Evaristo. The actress, who quotes Angela Davis at her Instagram followers, describes the book as "one of the most powerful, honest, funny and moving pieces of writing I've ever read." She picked up the Booker-prize-winning novel in an effort to "deepen my understanding" of "race, sexuality, modern femaleness, Britishness and so much more."
This is where Daisy Edgar-Jones sees herself in the future
For now, Daisy Edgar-Jones is busy honing her acting craft. She's been spending the last couple of months in Vancouver, Canada, filming the Mimi Cave-directed thriller Fresh, alongside actress Jonica Gibbs and Gossip Girl alum Sebastian Stann (via Variety and The Daily Mail).
But acting might not always be in Daisy Edgar-Jones' future. In the rising stars' Harper's Bazaar "What You Don't Know About Me" video, Edgar-Jones posits that she might be "someone who directs music videos" if she weren't an actress. (Can someone please hook her up with our friend, Taylor Swift?) Whether music video or not, directing is exactly where she might be someday. "Ultimately," she told Harper's Bazaar, "I'd love to direct. I'm really fascinated by film-making and cinematography. As much as I love a performance, I also appreciate how a choice of lens or music can elevate it to a different level ."